The use of a set of disposable pipette tips and the provision of a carrier therefor are well known. Typically, either a plate carrying a number of pipette tips, usually ninety-six, is provided or a number of such plates, often five, are provided in stacked form as a packaging convenience. In loading the tips for use, a single plate of tips is placed over a support structure (a support rack or another supportive plate of tips) and the tips, variably with or without the single plate, are released into the rack.
In many settings in which pipette tips are used, it is desirable to minimize the user's handling of the tips. However, the prior art tip mounting systems are not fully satisfactory in this regard primarily because in such systems, the tips are disposed somewhat loosely in the carrying plate. Thus, at several points of use, i.e., when the tips and the carrying plate are placed in a package for transport, lifted from such a package after transport using the carrying plate, or placed over a support structure using the carrying plate, the tips are susceptible to becoming displaced from the carrying plate and thus, to requiring manual repositioning in the carrying plate.
The prior art tip mounting and disposal systems are further unsatisfactory in that they consist of unwieldy tip releasing devices. Particularly problematic are prior art systems in which the loosely disposed tips are automatically released when the carrying plate is placed over the support rack. With such systems, the user is undesirably prevented from controlling the carrying plate between a tip-carrying and a tip-releasing position. This lack of user control results in the tips being prematurely displaced from the carrying plate by a simple jolt or contact. More specifically, premature displacement often occurs during placement over the support structure when the tips are not precisely aligned with tip-receiving apertures of the support. Such precise alignment is extremely difficult to achieve with existing loose-tip systems. It is therefore desirable to provide a tip mounting and disposal apparatus that is easy to use and allows the user to control the tip-holding and tip-releasing functions thereof.